Teh Faith

(Disclaimer in an attempt to make it really hard for to misunderstand me: I’m not saying all Christians are evil. If you are a Christian who believes I have a right to my uterus I have no quibble with you. My views don’t represent all atheists and this is a not a statement on the behalf of the atheist community.)

Every time I feel like I’m getting into a worthwhile argument with a religious person I am confounded by the invocation of “Teh Faith.” Apparently their faith lets them know they are right. If I said my faith in the evil bitch goddess of feminazis lets me know now that 4+7= 5 you would think me crazy. So, understandably, I think that people who reject evolution based on their faith are a couple sandwiches short of a picnic.

I was a Christian when I was wee girl. I prayed, occasionally went to church and enjoyed the sweet siren song of faith. Having a warm and cuddly blanket of knowledge in my particular Sky Daddy made me feel special. I was afraid to examine that blanket, the one that got increasingly threadbare the more I learned about the Bible and religion’s history.

What really infuriates me is people justifying their need for control of my body with “baby Jesus cries every time aborts a baby” or something equally stupid and fundielicious. Give me the chapter and verse where the spokesmen for God their own views wrote, “You shall not remove a clump of cells from a woman’s body, or let her have the right to her own uterus.” People usually mumble something about how they know, because of “Teh Faith.” It amazes me the number of people who haven’t actually thought about it, and only believe xyz because their priest said xyz. The Bible doesn’t mention abortion. Abortion isn’t an evil thing Satanists just thought up. It was happening in ancient Rome. Abortion isn’t something that will go away if it is banned. Every time you pass a law making it more difficult for women to get abortions you are condemning women to death and to serious injuries. Women will seek abortions, legal or not.

Drat, I’ve wandered from my original point as I feel somewhat protective of my uterus whenever I think about religion. Anyway, you can use your blanket and huddle beneath it. Outside can be a cold, scary and downright depressing place. If you don’t want to trade fuzzy happiness for sharp truth, keep the damn blanket. It’s just that this obnoxious atheist would appreciate it if you didn’t hide under your blanket whenever you get into an argument over her uterus.

One would be hard pressed to find an Atheist that is against the abortion of a fetus in its premature stages–before it has developed the ability to think and feel pain. The objection against abortion is primarily a sexist issue under the guise of and inspired by Religion. It is hardly surprising then, why individuals who are pro-choice, tend to adopt and exercise principles of gender equality in other aspects of their lives more so than those who do not.

Still, there many strides left to be made in this area, when you consider there are still individuals who whilst pro-choice, believe the decision to abort is strictly 50% on the part of the female, and 50% male. This belief tends to come from the misunderstanding of what gender equality truly is.

On the issue of abortion, women necessarily have the most weight and final say. This is not because they are women and being so grants them special status, as this would not be gender equality at all. The reason can be easily seen objectively when one considers the resources required to produce a baby.

The argument is often expressed using the claim that since the baby cannot be made without the sperm, the male has just as much say. This is to overlook a crucial point: the fetus cannot survive without an incubator (the uterus). One cannot rationally compare the necessary resources required of the woman over nine months, plus the risk of complications, labour pains, and possible death during childbirth, with the single contribution of the male–one time ejaculation–and still advocate the equal say of men in the decision making process.

Until such a time, when technology allows both sexes to make single contributions in the form of egg and sperm donations to an Incubation Center with the technology to artificially grow the fetus to term . . . the idea of men having as much say as women, can be seen for what it is–sexist irrationality/delusion. One need only proper use of mental faculties, to realize this.

helloonhairylegs:
I’ve long ago given up expecting the malestream to think.

As humans mature, there is an increased understanding of the origins of their belief systems. The ability to rigourously question those belief systems for their validity, whilst not practiced as often as it should be by the general population, is not gender specific. It relies on other factors such as exposure to skepticism, education, social environments and so forth.

To promote gender equality, it is equally important to encourage the study of evidence. As such, it is as inaccurate to claim the superiority of women over men as it is to do the reverse. That type discrimination would not be based on evidence at all, but rather, on sexism–which I do not condone.

I appreciate the welcome, by the way. I respect the courage and audacity in promoting Atheism awareness by ‘coming out’ whenever possible and participating in discussions.